Shillong, April 21: Teachers and employees of non-government schools and colleges in Meghalaya have rejected the pension scheme introduced by the State government recently and termed it as unacceptable.

It may be noted that the State government has recently notified the implementation of the Meghalaya Non-Government Schools and Colleges Employees Centralised Fund Scheme, 2026 to provide social security benefits for non-government teachers after their retirement from service.

“As stakeholders we have a lot of disagreement with this pension scheme announced by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on April 1. After thorough deliberations, we have unanimously decided to reject this pension scheme  and we have also sent our objections to the government,” said Boswell Pala, the president of Khasi-Jaiñtia Deficit School Teachers’ Association (KJDSTA).

According to Pala, the latest pension scheme announced by the government is different from the draft proposal initiated in 2023. He also said that the draft proposal  of 2023 was done after extensive deliberations with teachers of non-government schools and colleges.

Stating that the new pension scheme was implemented despite pending litigation in the High Court on the matter, Pala also said that both serving and retired teachers of non-government schools were directed to open Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) in order to avail the benefit.

The KJDSTA president also informed that in the past, non-government teachers who joined service prior to April 2010 are covered under the Meghalaya Non-Government Schools and Colleges Employees Centralised Provident Fund Act, 1969 whereas those those who were appointed after April 2010 are placed under the National Pension Scheme (NPS).

“However, the new pension scheme introduced by the government fails to maintain this distinction,” Pala said.